Joint high-level consultations of UN counter-terrorism bodies in Tajikistan

AKHVEDELID — Wed, 09 May 2018 05:39:00 +0000

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On 3-4 May 2018, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) participated in a high-level international conference on Countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism. Held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the conference was co-organized by the Government of Tajikistan, several United Nations bodies, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the European Union (EU), with financial support from the State of Qatar.

CTED Executive Director Michèle Coninsx delivered a statement during the plenary session of the conference, highlighting CTED’s current efforts aimed at countering terrorism and the evolution of its mandate pursuant to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, as well as its work in Central Asia. One of CTED’s Legal Officers also delivered a presentation on evolving new threats and terrorist tactics with a focus on returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).

The main objectives of the Conference included creating a common understanding of current challenges and obstacles in the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in the region and globally; exploring opportunities for strengthening partnerships and cooperation at national, regional, and international levels; sharing opportunities and challenges of Tajikistan’s National Counter-Terrorism Strategy implementation; identifying trends and challenges of radicalization, and the role of youth, ideology and information in preventing and countering violent extremism leading to terrorism; exchanging experiences in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism with a focus on FTF threat prevention; stock-taking of domestic and regional mechanisms to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism; and strengthening cooperation against cyber-terrorism and developing directives/guidelines for countering violent extremism in cyber space.

The conference was attended by delegations from 47 Member States, several United Nations delegations, and many regional organizations.

On the margins of the conference, Ms. Coninsx held several bilateral meetings, some of these jointly with UNOCT, the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy (UNRCCA), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). These meetings included discussions with the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, high-level officials of Afghanistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, the UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan, and heads of regional organizations.

Meeting with the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Mr. Rashid Alimov (centre).

Meeting between the President of Tajikistan and the UN delegation.

In the last three years, CTED has conducted assessment visits, on the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s behalf, to all five countries of Central Asia, and is working closely with UNOCT in the framework of the third phase of the Joint Plan of Action (JPoA) for Central Asia, which was launched on 30 April 2018 in Ashgabat. The recommendations made during these country visits – including those requiring the provision of technical assistance – will be addressed at the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s open briefing in New York on 2 July 2018.

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The XVI meeting of Heads of special services, security agencies, and law-enforcement organizations stresses threat posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters

BMUSONI — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 14:07:00 +0000

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Participants in this major global security forum focused on complex problems related to foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) returning from the conflict zones in Iraq and Syria and posing serious terrorist threat.

Mr. Aleksandr Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), reading out a statement on behalf of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that it was premature to expect that international terrorism would be quickly defeated.

“The main danger stems from returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) who set up underground terrorist networks upon their return to their countries of origin”, he said.

“In reaction to the military campaigns conducted in Syria and Iraq, terrorists are changing tactics and transferring their main forces to other States and other parts of the world”, he added.

Mr. Bortnikov was addressing the XVI Meeting of Heads of Special Services, Security Agencies and Law-Enforcement Organizations, hosted by the FSB in Krasnodar on 4 and 5 October 2017.

The Meeting was attended by over 330 delegates from 75 States and international organizations, including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the European Union.

Mr. Andrei Kovalenko, Head of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)’s Administration and Information Office, who was delivering a statement on behalf of the Chair of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) stressed the vital role played by the Meeting.

“The Meeting plays a vital role in enhancing cooperation among special services, security agencies and law enforcement organizations from around the world in the global fight against terrorism”, he said.

He also recalled that Security Council resolution 2322 (2016), on international law enforcement and judicial cooperation in countering terrorism, was of direct relevance to the Meeting’s work.

He urged participants to raise awareness of the resolution’s provisions on strengthening intelligence cooperation, including by downgrading for official use intelligence threat data on FTFs and individual terrorists and provide such information to frontline screeners.

Mr. Kovalenko also briefed participants on the efforts of the CTC and CTED to strengthen public-private partnerships in preventing terrorist abuse of information and communications technologies (ICT).

The Meeting further dwelt on terrorist threats to international information security; countering radicalization, extremism and terrorist recruitment (including countering the spread of radical religious teachings in prisons and terrorist recruitment of individuals serving imprisonment terms); and security arrangements for major international events.

The participants reaffirmed the Meeting’s commitment to the creation of a united global counter-terrorism alliance of security intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, with the United Nations playing a central coordinating role.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and to the relevant Council resolutions on terrorism.

The sharing of operational intelligence regarding international terrorist organizations and FTFs would be expanded, and steps would be taken to improve cooperation among security intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including through the UN, in preventing terrorist abuse of ICT.

The FSB’s International Counterterrorism Database should be fully utilized to create a universal counter-terrorism information environment.

The participants also issued a joint statement in support of Security Council resolution 2354 (2017) and the Comprehensive International Framework to Counter Terrorist Narratives endorsed by the resolution, as well as Security Council resolution 1624 (2005), on countering incitement to commit terrorist acts.

A Communique of the event can be downloaded here.

Front Page Article:

Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - SCO

Joint high-level consultations of UN counter-terrorism bodies in Tajikistan

tajikistan_1-1024x682.jpg

The XVI meeting of Heads of special services, security agencies, and law-enforcement organizations stresses threat posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters

photo_meeting-logo.jpg